Sony NEX-F3 versus rival model with similar score

Further readings for the Sony NEX-F3

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

Sony’s annual update to the NEX range has so far failed to deliver the expected high-end replacement to the NEX-7. However, Sony has added the promising NEX-6 and refrevshed the popular, entry-level NEX-F3 with this new sleek looking model. Read on to see how well it performed in our labs.

Announced at IFA 2012, Sony’s NEX-5R is the third version of its very popular NEX-5 camera. This new model features a 16-megapixel APS-C EXMOR sensor composed of photosites that provide autofocusing by phase detection. Has Sony improved the image quality of its latest mid-range compact hybrid? Our tests reveal the answer.

The NEX-F3 is one of three Sony mirrorless camera models released in 2012, and it’s the company’s eighth since the launch of the NEX line in 2010. The NEX-F3 borrows heavily from higher-end models, but also taps much of the technology found in its predecessor. So is there any big evolution in sensor quality for the NEX-F3? Or were most of the changes to the camera cosmetic? DxOMark has some answers.

Panasonic is adding its ninth model to its growing Lumix G-series lineup. In July, the Japanese electronics giant announced the Lumix DMC G5 would replace the Lumix DMC G3. Like its predecessor, the G5 taps the increasingly popular mirrorless Micro Four Thirds technology that Panasonic co-developed back in 2008 with its cross-town Tokyo rival Olympus.

The Alpha NEX-F3 ($599) is Sony's entry-level mirrorless interchangeable lens camera. It's the replacement to the NEX-C3, with the most significant change being a new 3-inch LCD that can flip upward 180 degrees and face your subject. In addition, the F3 now sports a built-in flash, so you'll no longer need to carry around an external one. It also has a wider ISO range, an improved movie mode, and a new Superior Auto mode.

The NEX-F3 succeeds the NEX-C3 while keeping the latter’s 16Mpix APS-C CMOS Exmor sensor, well-known for its qualities of excellent behavior at high sensitivities and in low-light, and for its record-breaking dynamic range.